纽约时报 贫困国家陷入新旧疫情的两面夹击(4)

This spring, as the program was being readied for its nationwide rollout, the coronavirus struck.

今年春天，就在该计划正准备在全国范围内推广时，新冠病毒来了。

Mass vaccination¹ campaigns, which often mean summoning hundreds of children to sit close together in schoolyards and markets,

开展大规模的疫苗接种活动通常意味着要将数百名儿童同时召集到校园或集市内，座位与座位之间间距很小，

seemed guaranteed to spread coronavirus.

势必一定会助长新冠病毒的传播。

Even routine immunization, which typically occurs in clinics, became untenable in many areas.

即使是常规的疫苗接种，通常在诊所内完成的那种，很多地方也都已经难以维系。

The country's health authorities decided² to allow vaccinations³ to continue in areas with measles⁴ but no coronavirus cases.

该国卫生当局已经决定，允许爆发了麻疹疫情但尚无新冠肺炎病例的地区继续接种疫苗。

But the pandemic froze international flights that would bring medical supplies,

问题是，新冠疫情逼停了输送医疗供给的国际航班，

and several provinces began running out of vaccines⁶ for polio, measles and tuberculosis⁷.

有几个省份的脊髓灰质炎疫苗、麻疹疫苗和结核病疫苗都已经开始见底了。

When immunization supplies finally arrived in Kinshasa, they could not be moved around the country.

疫苗用品好不容易到了金沙萨，又遇上了无法完成国内配送的问题。

Domestic flights had been suspended.

国内航班已经停飞。

Ground transport was not viable⁸ because of shoddy roads.

由于路况欠佳，地面运输也不可行。

Eventually, a United Nations peacekeeping mission ferried supplies on its planes.

最后还是某联合国维和特派团调派了他们的飞机完成了疫苗配送。

Still, health workers, who had no masks, gloves or sanitizing gel, worried about getting infected; many stopped working.

尽管如此，由于没有口罩，没有手套，也没有消毒凝胶可用的疫苗工作者担心自己被感染；许多人都已停止工作。

Others were diverted to be trained for Covid.

剩下的人都被调去参加抗击新冠的培训了。

The cumulative⁹ impact has been particularly dire¹⁰ for polio eradication¹¹ —

累加效应对消灭小儿麻痹症工作的危害尤其严重——

around 85,000 Congolese children have not received that vaccine⁵.

目前已有近8.5万名刚果（金）儿童未能接种这种疫苗。

But the disease that public health officials are most concerned about erupting is measles.

然而，公共卫生官员最担心爆发的还是麻疹。

Measles virus spreads easily by aerosol—tiny particles or droplets¹² suspended in the air—

麻疹病毒很容易通过气溶胶——空气中悬浮的微小颗粒或水滴——传播，

and is far more contagious¹³ than the coronavirus,

传染性比新冠病毒都要强上许多，

according to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

据疾控中心（CDC）的专家透露。

"If people walk into a room where a person with measles had been two hours ago and no one has been immunized,

“如果一群没有接种过麻疹疫苗的人走进了一个两小时前有麻疹患者待过的房间，

100 percent of those people will get infected,"

那他们100%会被感染，而且一个都跑不掉，”

said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Stanford University.

斯坦福大学儿科传染病专家Yvonne Maldonado博士说。

1 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

10 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

11 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

12 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句

13 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。